Comrades
by MorrieBiscuits
Summary: After a close encounter during a mission, Falco realizes just how important the lives of his comrades are. I'll never take you for granted again, friend. Falco-Krystal friendship, implied FoxKrystal. Read and Review! COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

-1Star Fox: "Comrade"

By Katie "morrie-chan" McNicholas

Pairing: None; Krystal-Falco friendship. Hinted Fox/Krystal if you squint.

Rating: PG-13

Warning: Hinted violence, and swearing. Some spoilers for Command, I guess. Schizophrenic Falco? XD Oh right, and ANGST. D:

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Fox, Nintendo does.

---

Chapter 1

Falco woke up, looking at the smoky yellow sky. Immediately, pain was felt in his back and legs; he knew his back wasn't broken, but one of his legs **definitely** was. He couldn't move much, the pain was bad enough, but he felt rather weak as well. Judging by that, and some dampness he felt here and there, he must have lost quite a bit of blood.

'Oh wait, that's right. I got taken out.' he thought, licking his beak and tasting the bitter taste of blood. His ego chose to speak then, saying in an outrage 'How can the great Falco Lombardi be taken down by a fleet of nobodies? Someone truly has a death wish, because this is unacceptable!'. His common sense retorted 'These nobodies caught my ass off guard. It happens to the best of us, sometimes. Y'know, remember James McCloud?'.

He then heard someone walking over to him. He knew exactly who it was, being that only one member of the team was sent with him to this desolate planet. The entire team split themselves between three planets. Miyu and Fay made one team, Fox and Slippy another…which left Falco with Krystal.

Falco was actually kind of relieved that he was teamed with her; when she initially joined, he didn't trust her completely. However, as he got to know her, the avian decided that she was alright. She was a pretty talented pilot, but where she really excelled was hand-to-hand combat; she proved to be a very good, if challenging sparring partner. Hell, she kicked his ass whenever he took her on. It didn't hurt that she was very comfortable to talk to, and that she had the same kind of sense of humor he did.

And yeah, it hurt like hell when Fox kicked her off the team. He remembered that night on the Great Fox, he left the team again because of how angry he was at Fox, much to the tearful objections of Slippy and Fay. "You're a God damn idiot, Fox. She loves you, and you push her away. What're you gonna do, push us all away?!" he scolded the vulpine before walking out the door.

Of course, that was all in the past, and the team was back together again. Back to current events, Krystal knelt over Falco, her face purely concerned. "Good, you're conscious. I've already called ahead to the others. They'll be here right away. Just hang on, alright?" she spoke, her accented voice soothingly soft. She sat beside her severely injured teammate, protective yet still on guard in case an enemy came to 'finish the job'.

Falco wanted to say something along of the lines of 'I'm fine, don't you worry about me', but a sudden rush of pain to his chest made him cough hard. He managed to turn his head to the side (hurt his neck like a bitch, though) and cough frothy blood into his blue feathered hand. He settled back and looked up at the vixen, deciding instead to just go with a "Thanks", just before slipping back into dark unconsciousness.

---

A few months had passed since the accident. Falco had just about fully recovered; his back pain was gone, and he just had his leg taken out of it's cast. His ribs, which had also broken, had healed as well. And even though he still was a little shaky on his feet without the assistance of a cane, his piloting skills didn't suffer at all.

The team was just about finished with a mission on Titania, to explore an abandoned laboratory to make sure everything was alright. Again, Falco and Krystal teamed up. They picked to check the area where experimentation took place. Falco was a little slow, but Krystal was very patient.

"Shit, this place gives me the creeps." the avian muttered, holding his blaster in the hand that didn't hold the cane he used. Krystal nodded in agreement, holding her staff up defensively. The two stepped carefully around the lab, their steps echoing in the wide, empty room.

It was way too quiet in the room for Falco's taste. It usually took a lot to creep him out, but this room, for whatever reason, made the feathers on the back of his neck stand up. Krystal wasn't so afraid; once you've lost your home planet, there isn't much left to fear. She was more concerned with protecting Falco; he hadn't fully healed yet.

Falco actually wasn't even supposed to be doing anything like this. The doctors recommended that he'd stay out of active duty for at least another few months, but the avian was stubborn, dead set on going on this mission after months of being cooped up in a hospital. Krystal had overheard a conversation between the doctor and Fox…if anything happened to that leg before it fully healed…

Krystal shook the thought off. Nothing would happen. As his comrade, no, as _his friend_, she would make sure of it.

That's when a loud stomp was heard. And felt. Falco clenched the head of his cane tightly, part in fear and part in anticipated excitement. Krystal's defensive stance strengthened, concentrating her telepathy to find whatever was the cause of it.

It was right behind Falco.

A warm, really bad smelling wind blew around Falco. He slowly turned his head to look at the monstrosity that stood behind him. It was some sort of rat; but this rat was about 7 feet tall, severely mutated, missing it's lower jaw, and it's eyes; it's big, red, bloodshot eyes were glowing. **Glowing.** 'How cliché.' Falco thought.

The monster lifted his arm, it's long, way too sharp claws reflecting the dim lighting of the room. Falco stared at them, freezing completely. Those things looked like they probably could rip him in half with just one swipe. He just gotten out of the hospital two weeks ago, and now this giant rat was about to fillet him. Isn't life just so fucking grand?

"FALCO!" Krystal screamed, rushing over and hitting the mutant with her staff, sending it back against the wall. Falco unfroze, aiming his blaster at the freak. "Damn it, what the hell is that thing?!" he cried out angrily. Krystal shook her head, not taking her eyes off their opponent. "I have no idea, and I'd much rather kill it before it gets the chance to _kill us_." she spoke.

The mutant moved fast--way too fast--to the other side of the room, then rushed at them. Krystal ran to meet it with her staff, meeting with it's claws with a loud, unpleasant clang. Krystal immediately felt her arms strain against the force; this thing was strong, maybe too strong. Falco managed to get on the other side of the enemy and fired a few shots from his blaster at it's back. At first, it seemed that it was wounded; but then, the wounds sealed themselves back up again. "Fuck." Falco muttered.

Krystal was sent flying across the room, hit with the back of the mutant's monstrously big paw. Her back hit a metal wall, HARD. She coughed up a bit of blood as she hit the ground, her arms breaking her fall. Falco jumped back, tripping over his cane and falling to the ground. His leg was already hurting from strain, but he nonetheless raised his blaster, holding the trigger. Maybe once it charged enough, it would have a greater effect.

The beast hovered above Falco, frothy drool forming from the tongue that hung from it's mouth. Falco aimed straight for the mutant's face and fired, but the bastard dodged. Blood sprayed into the air. A loud, gruesome crack was heard, followed by a painful scream. Falco panted frantically, his blaster being knocked across the room, and now having one of those incredibly sharp claws through the knee of his bad leg. Fuck times infinity.

'Shit. SHIT! I'm screwed. So fucking screwed!' the avian thought, frantically, his shaking coming out of his pain and his fear. The mutant raised it's other claw emotionlessly. It probably took absolutely no though whatsoever for this freak show to kill it's prey, or so Falco assumed.

Krystal rose slowly, shaking off the blow. She looked over, eyes widening at what could be the death of Falco Lombardi. Unless, of course, she did something about it…

-To Be Continued-


	2. Chapter 2

\/p>

-1Star Fox: "Comrade"

By Katie "morrie-chan" McNicholas

Pairing: None; Krystal-Falco friendship. Hinted Fox/Krystal if you squint.

Rating: PG-13

Warning: Violence, language, Angst. Lots of all three in this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Fox, Nintendo does.

---

Chapter 2

As Falco was staring death straight in the face. Of course, it had taken the form of some ugly ass mutant with big glowing eyes and a missing jaw, not to mention the insanely big hands with sword blades for claws. One of which was currently nailing him by his leg to the ground-- the leg that he had just spent months in the hospital healing. He sighed a deep, hoarse sigh. This was not a good day.

The mutant brought it's claw down. Falco clenched his eyes shut, not willing to witness his own death. Not that he'd really see, or feel anything in a moment.

But instead of pain, he felt something warm and wet hit his face. His eyes shot open.

There stood Krystal. It's claws were countered by her staff…mostly. One managed to get through, digging into her shoulder. Another, a thumb that wasn't as big as the three fore claws, dug through her chest, poking out of her back slightly. Blood had sprayed out from the impact, now leaking down Krystal's blue flight suit, the red blood turning where it flowed purple. Falco swallowed hard.

"K-Krystal?" he spoke, uncharacteristically fearful and emotional. The vixen slowly turned her head, her bleeding mouth curled into a caring, friendly smile. Before she could say anything, a fit of coughs erupted from her throat, blood sputtering out with each heave.

Falco shuddered, half guilty and half seriously wanting to kill this son of a bitch. He wiped his teammates blood off his face. "…This mother fucker…is so dead." he muttered. The beast withdrew both his paws, backing up with a jump. Krystal's limp form fell back into Falco's arms. He took her blaster out of it's holster, aiming straight for the demon's face once more.

The mutant let out a roar, that sounded more like somewhere between a gargle and a squeal. "Just shut up and die, God damn you!" Falco screamed, holding down the trigger with one hand, his other arm holding Krystal's badly bleeding form protectively.

Just before the monster could jump over again, a lighted yo-yo wrapped around it's neck, and it was pulled somewhat. "Falco, I've got it! Fire when ready!" a voice rang, airy and sweet despite it's serious tone. The avian smirked, the blaster's charge turning from green to yellow. "Fay." he spoke.

Another familiar face came over and took Krystal from Falco's arm. "Miyu, take Krystal back to the Great Fox, now!" he spoke. The lynx nodded, lifting the vixen onto her shoulder. "Be careful. Fox is already gonna be pissed about her; if anything happens to Fay, I'm going to kick your ass." she spoke before running out of the room.

Just as the blaster's light finally turned red, Falco wasted no time and fired. A direct hit upon the mutant's face, it fell over like a cut down tree. After a few moments of twitching, it stopped moving completely. A puddle of black came out of it's head; Fay assumed it was blood, pulling back her yo-yo. She then ran back over to her avian teammate, who was now clutching his leg with a pained smile.

"Falco, you really should have…" Fay stopped, not wanting to add annoyance to his pain. But Falco knew what she wanted to say anyway. "This…is the last time…that I will ever leave the hospital when I'm told not to." he muttered. The spaniel helped the avian onto his feet, his arm over her shoulders, and began to make their way back to the Great Fox.

Falco sighed again, hoping that Fox would take this well. His…feelings for the vixen at times clouded his judgment. He was getting better, though. Falco assumed he'd take it just fine.

---

He didn't. Falco decided that after seeing the dent left in the infirmary's wall.

Krystal had lost quite a large amount of blood, and her collar bone was broken in two places. Luckily for everyone, Fay had picked up some medical know-how during the years she and Miyu spent exploring the galaxy. She still needed to go to the hospital, and she was still in a lot of pain, but the severity of her wounds had been lessened.

Once she was finished, she also worked on Falco's knee. She couldn't do much; his kneecap was totally shattered from the claw's impact. The canine sighed, her light blue eyes met with Falco's darker, cobalt. "You should have stayed in the hospital. You might lose your leg if you keep this up!" she scolded in concern. Normally, Falco would've huffed at being scolded, but he knew that in his current situation, she was right. He'd rather this then have Fox chew him out.

Slippy then came in, the normally cheery toad's face sullen. "She still hasn't woken up yet, but her vitals are much better. Fox is in there with her. We're closest to Aquas right now, so we'll go there." he spoke to the dog and bird. The two nodded and the toad left them alone.

Falco felt a lump catch in his throat. He found himself looking to his bloody knee; not that it was currently pleasant to look at. Fay noticed this change in the avian's mood. She'd only seen Falco cry once, and it was YEARS ago, back at the Academy. "Falco?" she spoke softly.

"It…it's nothing." he whispered back, despite the fact that already, he was blaming himself. 

---

Falco lay in the hospital bed, staring up at the tiled ceiling. They were able to fix his kneecap, but he'd have to spend another 2 months in the hospital. Fox was standing at the end of the room, looking at the avian. His arms were crossed, his face inquisitive, his tail swishing back and forth; a nervous twitch the vulpine had.

Falco turned his head, gazing blankly. "Come here to lecture me?" he muttered. Fox sighed, uncrossing his arms, his hands on his hips. After a moment of finding what to say, Fox looked to the ground. "I think you've suffered enough already. But I'd still like to have a word with you." the vulpine stated.

The avian would have turned his back to the leader of Star Fox, if his knee wasn't currently in a cast. Instead, he turned his look back to the ceiling. "I didn't know she was going to put herself in that situation. If I _had_ known, I wouldn't have **let** her. It's my fault Krystal got hurt like that." the bird man muttered, crossing his arms.

"It's not your fault. Krystal was protecting you. If she hadn't jumped in front of that mutant, you'd be dead. Don't worry, she's fine; luckily there was a blood transfusion available, so her blood loss has been taken care of. And Cerinians heal much quicker then Cornerians, so she'll be back to normal…most likely before you." Fox reassured him.

Falco sighed deeply, covering his arms as if he were cold. "…is she awake, yet?" he asked. Fox smiled half-heartedly. "Not really. She opened her eyes for a little before. She…smiled at me and squeezed my hand back. But then she went back to sleep…" Fox murmured.

Falco nodded, smiling a little himself. Any other time, he'd probably tease Fox about how cute it was to see him gush over the vixen. "Fox?" he breathed.

"Yeah, Falco?" Fox answered, ears perking up having just barely heard his teammate.

"Thanks."

---

Krystal's eyes opened slightly. It was dark in the hospital room, the only light coming from outside. She turned her head slowly, to the beast-made island city outside the hospital. She remembered, barely, Fox telling her that Falco was alright. She smiled to herself, despite the physical pain she was in.

At least her comrade was alright.

-To Be Continued-

\/p> 


	3. Chapter 3

-1Star Fox: "Comrade"

By Katie "morrie-chan" McNicholas

Pairing: None; Krystal-Falco friendship. Hinted Fox/Krystal if you squint.

Rating: PG-13

Warning: For this chapter, just some language. Appearances by Katt and gasp Fara! 8D

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Fox, Nintendo does.

--

Chapter 3

Falco rolled through the floor of the hospital on the wheelchair given to him; the last time he had been confined to one of these was a while ago. He stopped by the door of the room Krystal was in. It had been a few weeks since they got here. Krystal had drifted in and out of consciousness initially, but she was totally fine now, apparently. What was unusual was that her wounds, according to Slippy, were almost healed already; her race's advanced immune systems made them fast healers, as Fox explained to him.

The avian still felt somewhat guilty about the events of the past week, but he wasn't being overly hard on himself anymore. These things happen in their field of work all the time; he was just thankful that neither of them were dead.

Falco took in a few deep breaths. He was beyond nervous, despite himself. He slowly rolled into the room.

--

Krystal was sitting up, reading a book Peppy had given her some time ago. It was about a spy, who was trying to save his family from a psychotic con-man who was really his long lost brother. She piped her head up as Falco entered the room. She smiled and placed the book down.

"What took you so long to come and see me?" she asked the avian. Falco sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "I wanted…to wait until you were well enough." was the excuse he gave. Krystal titled her head slightly; her usually neater bangs fell over her eyes.

"You should know by now that lies are futile against me, Falco. But you needn't feel guilty for what happened back there. I was protecting my comrade." she spoke gently. Falco blinked, then cleared his throat. "…right. Of course." he murmured, suddenly feeling better.

There was a moment of silence, then Falco rolled a little closer to her bed. "Where did you learn how to fight?" he found himself asking. Krystal's expression became somber. "On my home planet, Cerinia, I was a warrior known as a Berserker. You had to have an extrasensory ability to be a berserker, but you also had to train very hard, and pass a test to become one."

"I started training in the armed forces when I was 9 years old. Which wasn't unusual, some start as early as 6 or 7 years of age. But it was a lot of hard work, and on top of that, there weren't any female berserkers at the time. I was the first…and the last." a tear threatened to come out of Krystal's eye, but she quickly wiped it away. "Berserkers learn from the start that your comrades are precious, and that working as a team is vital to one's survival. Or so we were taught." she spoke, her tone lightening.

Falco looked down to his bandaged up knee. 'That mindset is similar to…' he thought, thoughts of the past returning to the avian. "Krystal." he spoke. The vixen looked across the room to him, her eyes showing that she knew what he was going to say already. "You're welcome, Falco."

--

Dr. Walrus Feldman stood across the room from Falco, reading the clipboard. He looked up at the avian and smiled. "Well, you'll be relieved to know that the emergency surgery was successful." he spoke. Falco sighed in relief, as did Slippy, who stood next to the bed.

The doctor's expression faded into a more mellow one. "However, your rehabilitation will be somewhat painful. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if your knee hurt for the rest of your life." he said more sternly. Falco nodded, understanding what the doctor was saying, as well as it being his own fault. "And…if this leg takes another injury like this, there's a chance you might lose it all together." the doctor added with a remorseful tone.

Falco swallowed hard, not expecting that. Avian bones could only take so much damage, he knew that…but he couldn't picture losing his leg. He noticed Slippy looking at him, with a fearful concern he hadn't seen in the toad in a while. Falco looked back at the doctor and nodded again.

The walrus' expression lightened once more. "I'm glad you understand. I'd advise you to be less reckless…but I know how war is; I used to be a medic with Corneria. Just try not to hurt yourself so much." he cheered. Falco couldn't help the goofy smirk that adorned his face as he nodded once more. "Got it."

--

Miyu leaned into Krystal's room. Just two weeks later, and the vixen was already healed. Krystal was just pulling a gray hooded sweatshirt over her head. She looked to the lynx at the door. "Hello." the blue furred female said, waving lightly. Miyu almost burst into giggles, because the sweater was somewhat big and goofy looking on the vulpine; it had belonged to Fox.

"Fox already signed you out. You, me, Fay and he are gonna head back to Corneria, while Slippy stays here with Falco for a while." the lynx explained. Krystal nodded, already knowing the plan. Fox had explained it to her the night before; they were to give the mission analysis to Corneria, then take turns staying with Falco for the next 2 months.

Fay came in next, almost bumping into Miyu. "Katt's here." she managed to get out before a loud yelp was heard from all the way at the end of the hall. Krystal and Miyu glanced at each other, then they walked down the hall.

--

Fox stood outside the door with an old friend, a wheelchair bound fennec fox with pale brown fur and piercing hazel eyes. Fox looked over to her, smirking in embarrassment. "Funny we meet again like this, huh Fara?" he said to his former girlfriend, who looked up at him. "Katt insisted I come with her to see Falco; she freaked out when she heard he hurt himself…again." she replied.

As Krystal, Miyu and Fay came over, the vixens looked at each other. Fara and Krystal had been introduced, rather awkwardly, about 3 years ago. Krystal had just joined the team, and Fox and Fara hadn't seen each other in 7 years. Krystal was still in her Amazonian-like clothing, and Fara thought she was in costume. Poor Fox was so nervous about his former love meeting the girl he was just starting to fall for, but it turned out alright, because the two became fast friends.

"Krystal, you're doing better." the older vixen spoke with a smile; Fara had visited during their second week in the hospital, when Krystal was still fading in and out. Krystal just laughed and nodded. Miyu and Fay peered into the room. "Thank God, she's not killing him." the lynx murmured. "Not yet, anyway." the dog added with a playful giggle.

Krystal headed in, the other two girls following. Fara looked back over to Fox. "You know, she's grown up a lot. I can tell. She's more mature every time I meet up with her." the vixen spoke. Fox blushed beneath his fur, his ex making no secret of her approval of Krystal. He scratched the back of his head, clearing his throat. "Yeah, I just wish that she would be a little less…self-sacrificial sometimes. I get scared that…I might lose her." he admitted. Fara smiled, a light sigh breathed. "Like you were scared you were going to lose me. But look what happened to us. I ended up in a wheelchair and you almost went crazy."

Fox looked down at Fara, suddenly his heart feeling heavy. "You love her. I understand that. But you got to let her…do her own thing. Feel her own way out. Krystal's a very strong, independent girl. If you'd just let her." Fara breathed. The vixen began to roll her way into the room. "And you're just going to age yourself faster if you keep worrying so much all the time." she added playfully.

Fox sighed, a smile following. One thing about Fara hadn't changed; she still knew just what to say to make him feel better. It was something she and Krystal had in common, in fact. And he knew she was right. Krystal was very strong; in some ways, stronger then he was. He just needed to let her do things on her own, sometimes. He walked in behind the girls, ready for whatever chaos was inside that room.

--

Katt Monroe sat at the edge of Falco's bed. Falco looked absolutely exhausted, exasperated even. Which was typical after one of Katt's "Chew Out Falco" moments. He had known the feline for years, yet she still knew exactly what to say to make him feel either worse or better; it depended on the situation of course.

Katt had been so busy the past week or two that she hardly had the time to visit Falco until now. The black furred cat looked calm now, but just moments ago, she was quite the sight to behold. Slippy was STILL cowering in the corner, shaking like a leaf being blown in the wind.

Fox, Krystal, Miyu, Fay and Fara all came in. Katt looked over to them and waved. "Hey." she spoke, totally calm. Falco waved as well, his own hand shaking a little. Miyu and Fay looked and each other and giggled. Fara sighed, not sure of what to say, let alone where to start. Fox crossed his arms, thinking half-heartedly that Falco deserved it for making the cat worry. Krystal smiled, knowing it best to just watch the show sometimes.

Katt looked back to Falco, then kissed him on the tip of his beak. "And don't make me worry again, or else next time I'm gonna kick your ass. Okay?" she spoke. Fox almost lost his composure, because she was taking to his teammate like he was a child. Falco crossed his arms, totally embarrassed at this point. "O-okay." he muttered.

Katt got up and made her way out; she had to get back to work, Zoness wasn't going to rebuild itself. After she was gone, the five looked at Falco. "What'd she say?" Miyu asked. Falco sighed in relief that the situation was over, because as much as he loved Katt, she was downright scary when she was mad. Slippy ran over to Fox and buried his face against the vulpine. "I thought she was gonna kill Falco…" he whined.

Fara chuckled, patting Slippy on the back of his head. "Don't worry, Katt means well. And we all know that's how she gets when she's worried about Falco." the vixen spoke. Krystal shook her head. "At least she didn't break anything…like the last time." the blue vixen brought up. The last time Katt chewed out Falco, a vase and a chair served as casualties; nothing hitting Falco of course. As much as he made her worry, Katt wouldn't think of hurting the object of her affections.

Falco leaned back against his pillows and looked up at the ceiling. This was going to be a long two months.

--

"We're leaving." Fox called out. Miyu and Fay were already outside. Krystal turned to Falco before walking out of the room. Falco looked at her and blinked. "What?" he asked.

Krystal approached him, taking his hand. She opened his palm face up, then pressed her forehead into it. She said something in a language no one but her understood. Falco quirked an eyebrow at the gesture. "What did you just say?" he asked as she turned to leave.

The vixen paused at the door. "For my comrades." she piped, then exited. Falco smiled, leaning back against the bed rest. He stared at his hand for a moment and wondered what her home planet was like. He sighed, smiled, pressed his palm into his own forehead.

"For my comrades." he repeated.

-FINISH-

Closing Statement: Yes! I finished it! Thank you for all who read this. I'm going to start work on another Star Fox fanfic very soon. At the time I posted this last chapter, I only got two reviews ( TvT), but I hope to get many more.

My next Star Fox fanfic will be longer. And it'll be a whole storyline, not just consequences. This fanfic is just a taste of what I want to do. Of course, I'll try to make the next one a little more serious. I ended this one on a lighter note then when it started.

My intentions with this fic…well, there were a few. First, I wanted to write something other then a full-on romance fic. I do a lot of those, maybe too much. Another intention was to focus a fanfic on my two favorite characters without pairing them together. I've seen Falco/Krystal done before, and it's not that I don't like it--I'm just a cannon whore, in terms of this particular fandom. Third, I wanted to get a good feel of what I want to DO with my Star Fox Fanfiction.

Well, I hope you all enjoyed this, even if just a little. Thanks to any of you who reviewed my story, or even just read it. And to anyone else who reviews: critique is welcomed. I really need it, I know.


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